or
in regular bouquets and wreaths, as suits your fancy. Apply a coat of
isinglass, dissolved in water, to the whole surface, and when that is
dry, three coats of copal varnish, allowing each to dry before the
next is put on. The effect is very handsome. And, even without
painting the objects black, this same style of leaf and fern-work can
be applied to earthen vases, wooden boxes, trays and saucers, for
card-receivers. For these, you may get some good hints from the
illustrations on subsequent pages. The same illustrations will apply
to the "novelties in fern-work" given further on.

A WINDOW TRANSPARENCY.

Another pretty use for autumn leaves is a transparency for a window.
Arrange a group of the leaves upon a pane of glass, lay another pane
of same size over these, and glue the edges together, first with a
strip of stout muslin, and then with narrow red ribbon, leaving a
loop at each upper corner to hang it up by. The deep leaf colors seen
against the light are delightful.

SIDE-LIGHT TRANSPARENCIES.

Any of you who happen to live in a house which has, like many old
houses, a narrow side-light on either side of its front-door, and a
row of panes across the top, can make a pretty effect by preparing a
series of these transparencies to fit the door-glasses, and fastening
them on by driving a stout tack into the sashes so as to support
the four corners of each pane. The transparencies could be prepared
secretly and put into place overnight, or on Christmas morning, before
any one is up, so as to give mother a pleasant surprise as she comes
downstairs.

A FRAME OF AUTUMN LEAVES.

Procure an oblong bit of tin, eight inches by ten, or ten inches by
twelve, and have a large oval cut out in the middle. Paint the tin
with two coats of black, glue a small group of leaves in each corner,
with a wire spray or tendril to connect them, varnish with two coats
of copal, and put a small picture behind the oval.

A FRAME OF MAIDEN-HAIR.

Cut a pasteboard frame three inches wide of the size you need, and sew
thickly all over it little sprays of maiden-hair ferns, pressed and
dried. It is fastened to the wall with a pin at each corner, and of
course does not support a glass. The effect of the light fern shapes
against the wall is very delicate and graceful, and unsubstantial as
it may seem, the frame lasts a long time, especially if, when the
maiden-hair first begins to curl, the whole is taken down and
re-pressed f